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Azerbaijan Growth Leader in CIS
The latest data released by the CIS Statistics Committee indicate that the economic boom in Russia is part of a larger trend. The committee found that Azerbaijan led in economic growth in the first half of this year. The country's GDP rose 35.1 percent over the first half of last year, and industrial growth reached 35.6 percent. Those indicators for Russia are 9.1 percent and 7.7 percent, respectively.
Paradoxically, Azeri exports, which have always been predominantly raw materials, have declined, due to high oil prices. Exports fell 25 percent in the first half of the year, compared to last year. Inflation in Azerbaijan is much higher than in Russia. It reached 16 percent in the period in question, compared to Russia's 7.9 percent.
According to the CIS Statistics Committee, the economies of Armenia, which saw an increase of 11.2 percent in its GDP in the first half of the year; Uzbekistan, with 9.7-percent growth in the GDP; and Kyrgyzstan, with 9.2 percent, are growing faster than Russia's.
The investment boom is also far from an exclusively Russian phenomenon. In the first half of the year, in comparison with last year's first six months, capital investment increased by 22.3 percent in Russia. It increased 34 percent in Ukraine, 38.4 percent in Moldova, 43.3 percent in Kyrgyzstan and 91 percent in Tajikistan. Inflation in Kyrgyzstan in that period was a low 4.8 percent. Growth for the CIS as a whole was calculated at 9 percent. Thus Russia looks average in that context. Experts note the importance of the structure and stability of economic growth.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Aug. 03, 2007
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